MacMail — Configuring email with Mac OS X

Overview

Step one: Verifying the email user exists in your web panel

Make sure your email user is already set up in the DreamHost panel by going to Manage Email.

You will see your mail user listed on the page:

Step two: Finding your email server

In the past, it was possible to use mail.example.com to connect (where example.com is your actual domain name). Due to how modern mail clients handle security, this is now NOT recommended as it may throw connection errors. Please ensure you are only using your mail server name when connecting.

It will be one of the following depending on if you're connecting using IMAP or POP:

IMAP hostname: imap.dreamhost.com

POP hostname: pop.dreamhost.com

When you set up the first email address under a domain (that is configured to be hosted with DreamHost), the DreamHost system automatically creates the necessary hostnames and MX records that are required to process email for that domain. Please also note that if this is your first address on a domain, it may take up to 6hrs for those emails to function.

Step three: Setting up a new account in Mail

Open the Apple Mail application by clicking the Mail icon on the bottom dock. You can also click the magnifying glass on the top right and type the word 'Mail' into the search bar.

If you need to add an additional account, click 'Mail > Add Account...'.

The mail app opens and asks you to select an account provider.

The 'Choose a mail account provider...' page opens:

Select the Other Mail Account… option and click the Continue button.

This example uses the email address "admin@dreamhostexample.com":

Enter the following:

Full Name: This is how you'd like your name displayed when sending email.

Email Address: This field must contain the full email address.

Password: This is the password you set up for the email when creating it in your panel.